Dish Rated as Worst Company to Work For by Employees
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Well if I were to take a survey ,I would have to break it down into 3 parts as referring to personnel. First the installers/techs, I would give them a top rating. I have have nothing but good experiences with them. They know their stuff and have helped me with bad situations created by CSR. After reading the previous posts I understand why the installer told me if I had any problems please call them, not Dish. Wish I could call them instead of phone CSR's, at least the installers know what will work and what will not.
DIRT members, they seem to be our last best hope for a resolution when all else has failed. Thank you Dirt Team!
CSR's.... well when I first purchased Dish in the late 90's they were the best. Past 5 years or so, I'm very disappointed. And this is related to multiple issues/phone calls.
DIRT members, they seem to be our last best hope for a resolution when all else has failed. Thank you Dirt Team!
CSR's.... well when I first purchased Dish in the late 90's they were the best. Past 5 years or so, I'm very disappointed. And this is related to multiple issues/phone calls.
This job has it's ups and downs. Sometimes they have unrealistic exception and it all depends on your office and management team.
From the article: In order to identify America’s worst companies to work for, 24/7 Wall St. examined employee reviews at online job site Glassdoor. To be considered, companies had to have a minimum of 300 reviews. Of the 202 companies that made the initial screen, the company reviews were mixed, with few receiving high scores, few receiving low scores, and the majority of companies getting mediocre scores. Glassdoor’s employee reviews rate the companies on a scale of one to five. Based on these ratings, 24/7 Wall St. identified the 11 publicly traded companies that received the worst scores — a score of 2.7 or lower, putting them in the bottom 10% of the 202 companies we measured.
Read more: America’s Worst Companies to Work For - 24/7 Wall St. America
So, at minimum 300 reviews must be posted to reduce impact of any particular individual review. That gave them a list of 202 companies, which they pared down further to companies getting an average of 2.7 or lower on a scale of 1-5. They identified 11 publically traded companies on that list. Then they put them in order with the worst being #1. I see no reason DISH could have ended up anywhere else in that list of 202 companies with 300+ reviews. That said, to end up at the bottom of that list for publically-traded companies says a lot. Sure it's only 1% of their employee base, but it offers a realistic look. The Installer Forum here is full of upset DISH techs. Compare that to the number of disgruntled DIRECTV techs in that forum. DISH has way more complaints there than DTV does.
I left DISH in 2011. I was a CSR and had been a tech there. The company does not show very much appreciation for their employees. That is a statement of fact. I see no reason for DISH to have any CSRs or Techs working on major holidays like Christmas or Thanksgiving. It is not a 911 service and they are not responsible for putting out fires or stopping armed robberies or reviving a heart attack victim. It's just television. People can go a day without watching TV. You wouldn't think it by looking at the waistline of the average American, but I assure you, it's possible.
The mandatory overtime question on most applications is a reference to those busy times such as Nov-Dec in the retail business, or if some large project is acquired and they need extra help while the company ramps up labor forces. It is not an out to be used to force someone to work 60+ hours a week for 7 months straight (and yes that is the norm). If DISH really wanted to keep overtime down to a reasonable minimum, they would make their application process easier. Seriously, try to apply for a job there in one sitting. They have a 250 question psych profile, several 25-50 question intelligence tests, etc. I understand that it is important to screen applicants but that is what an interviewer is for. Of all those questions, not one asks the applicant if he even showers on a regular basis.
I won't even go into their equipment changes that constantly keep their employees flustered at having to fix some alpha (as in not even beta-test ready) piece of equipment. DISH is the "but wait! There's more!" huckster of the pay-TV world.
Read more: America’s Worst Companies to Work For - 24/7 Wall St. America
So, at minimum 300 reviews must be posted to reduce impact of any particular individual review. That gave them a list of 202 companies, which they pared down further to companies getting an average of 2.7 or lower on a scale of 1-5. They identified 11 publically traded companies on that list. Then they put them in order with the worst being #1. I see no reason DISH could have ended up anywhere else in that list of 202 companies with 300+ reviews. That said, to end up at the bottom of that list for publically-traded companies says a lot. Sure it's only 1% of their employee base, but it offers a realistic look. The Installer Forum here is full of upset DISH techs. Compare that to the number of disgruntled DIRECTV techs in that forum. DISH has way more complaints there than DTV does.
I left DISH in 2011. I was a CSR and had been a tech there. The company does not show very much appreciation for their employees. That is a statement of fact. I see no reason for DISH to have any CSRs or Techs working on major holidays like Christmas or Thanksgiving. It is not a 911 service and they are not responsible for putting out fires or stopping armed robberies or reviving a heart attack victim. It's just television. People can go a day without watching TV. You wouldn't think it by looking at the waistline of the average American, but I assure you, it's possible.
The mandatory overtime question on most applications is a reference to those busy times such as Nov-Dec in the retail business, or if some large project is acquired and they need extra help while the company ramps up labor forces. It is not an out to be used to force someone to work 60+ hours a week for 7 months straight (and yes that is the norm). If DISH really wanted to keep overtime down to a reasonable minimum, they would make their application process easier. Seriously, try to apply for a job there in one sitting. They have a 250 question psych profile, several 25-50 question intelligence tests, etc. I understand that it is important to screen applicants but that is what an interviewer is for. Of all those questions, not one asks the applicant if he even showers on a regular basis.
I won't even go into their equipment changes that constantly keep their employees flustered at having to fix some alpha (as in not even beta-test ready) piece of equipment. DISH is the "but wait! There's more!" huckster of the pay-TV world.
Speaking from the point of view of a technician, you don't see a lot of us get bent out of shape at your home because we generally like the work that we do. We just hate the company that we do it for and it's not you, the customer, that makes our company suck. Besides that, leaving a customer feeling bad about his/her service experience certainly won't help make our day better.
For me, the overtime isn't the biggest issue. I don't mind working 13-15 hours a day, but I don't have a wife or kids. It's that as employees we are constantly setup to fail. Unreachable metrics, unreasonable installation rules, the constant no-win situations we're put in. I'm expected to maintain:
-- 6 points per hour (each install/service call is assigned a point value based on what is expected to be done on that job.)
-- A Customer SATisfaction rating of 9.7 (out of 10)
-- Completing 99% of assigned work orders (if you have No Line of Sight on your property, that counts against me)
-- Never fail a Quality Assurance Inspection (I fail a QA if you don't have stickers on your remote controls)
-- A Trouble Call rate < 3.5%, which is essentially 1 or 2 per month (A TC is when a customer calls in within 12 days of me being there and needs another technician to come out. Whether you lost your remote, moved your receiver or you call because you can't get your DVD to work, the reason is irrelevant, this counts against me.)
There is also Connectivity(connecting receivers to an internet connection) in that pile, however, I think DISH has finally come to a reasonable number with that. So here is a no-win scenario:
I arrive at your home for a service call. Your signal is low. I find that your dish is out of alignment and can be repointed and your problem will go away. An easy fix if there ever was one. But wait, your dish is mounted to your siding. The cable that was used on your install was from your DirecTV system that you had before us. The cable ends on your cables are 'not approved' by DISH. Now I'm supposed to tear out all of that perfectly good cable. Take down that dish that is securely mounted. Move this dish to your roof, run new cables and in some cases drill new penetrations. If I don't do all of this, I fail a Quality Inspection. Also, I was given 50 minutes by our routing system to do all of this. I still have 2 other jobs to get to before noon.
Now you as a customer, say "Hell No! I don't want anymore holes drilled in my house." As you should. It's unreasonable. So I can leave it as is and roll the QA dice or I can cancel the work order and have my completion metric take a hit or I can be the used car salesman and try to sell you on the idea that we have to move your dish and run all new cables, thus screwing over my CSAT from you and my following customers because I'm now going to be late getting to them.
Oh and while doing all of this I'm supposed to sell you a TV mount or a surge protector.
For me, the overtime isn't the biggest issue. I don't mind working 13-15 hours a day, but I don't have a wife or kids. It's that as employees we are constantly setup to fail. Unreachable metrics, unreasonable installation rules, the constant no-win situations we're put in. I'm expected to maintain:
-- 6 points per hour (each install/service call is assigned a point value based on what is expected to be done on that job.)
-- A Customer SATisfaction rating of 9.7 (out of 10)
-- Completing 99% of assigned work orders (if you have No Line of Sight on your property, that counts against me)
-- Never fail a Quality Assurance Inspection (I fail a QA if you don't have stickers on your remote controls)
-- A Trouble Call rate < 3.5%, which is essentially 1 or 2 per month (A TC is when a customer calls in within 12 days of me being there and needs another technician to come out. Whether you lost your remote, moved your receiver or you call because you can't get your DVD to work, the reason is irrelevant, this counts against me.)
There is also Connectivity(connecting receivers to an internet connection) in that pile, however, I think DISH has finally come to a reasonable number with that. So here is a no-win scenario:
I arrive at your home for a service call. Your signal is low. I find that your dish is out of alignment and can be repointed and your problem will go away. An easy fix if there ever was one. But wait, your dish is mounted to your siding. The cable that was used on your install was from your DirecTV system that you had before us. The cable ends on your cables are 'not approved' by DISH. Now I'm supposed to tear out all of that perfectly good cable. Take down that dish that is securely mounted. Move this dish to your roof, run new cables and in some cases drill new penetrations. If I don't do all of this, I fail a Quality Inspection. Also, I was given 50 minutes by our routing system to do all of this. I still have 2 other jobs to get to before noon.
Now you as a customer, say "Hell No! I don't want anymore holes drilled in my house." As you should. It's unreasonable. So I can leave it as is and roll the QA dice or I can cancel the work order and have my completion metric take a hit or I can be the used car salesman and try to sell you on the idea that we have to move your dish and run all new cables, thus screwing over my CSAT from you and my following customers because I'm now going to be late getting to them.
Oh and while doing all of this I'm supposed to sell you a TV mount or a surge protector.
It's getting bad for dish employees...
Moral is at an all time low..
7 years ago I was sooo excited and proud to work for this company. I recommend a friend to come work for dish. Would I today...HELL NO .
About 4-5 years ago was when they started changing pretty drastically. But it made some sense. They wanted to survive and make it in the bad economy .
They started by taking away the summer picnic and the nice end of the year party.
They changed our incentive program around many times untill they found a way that would benefit them the most and make it hard on the tech.
They changed the "incentive" program from an incentive and a goal to mandatory and you BETTER get perfect scores at all cost!
Btw that survey call you get after we come out to help you out... If we don't average a 9.6 on the results. We know we are going to get bitched at and asked what went wrong...
It is now a game to convince people to just push all zeros(0 is a 10) .
So in no way is it a true survey.
Oh ya the new thing is sells. On top of all the metrics we must hit now we have to sell some Bullsh!t screen cleaner.
After every job we have to call a manager and tell them the way we connected the rec to bb or phone and if we sold anything or not .
The company wants us the bring the screen clean in with us and show it off first during the meet and greet...
If you are having problems with your system do you really want someone pushing a product on you?
It's just wrong.
I don't really get bothered by the overtime or the long days because I know I just need to put in my 4 days to get my 3 days off.
What it comes down to is the constant pressure that they put on us. Raising the metric levels , the work load for the day... Getting to 3 jobs before 12 can be very stress full. I hate being late to the 3 am.
It's just a brutal battle between the employees and the company . They will work you hard! And still think of ways to use you even more.
After 7 years I still enjoy installing dish and meeting some cool customer. I can still take pride in my work and do a solid badass install.
The micro managing company is just making it hard.
If I can find a new job ill be gone!
The sad thing is, just about all the techs feel that way.
The company has putinchal to be a great place to work. They don't care though.
You are just a number to them and that's the way it is.
Moral is at an all time low..
7 years ago I was sooo excited and proud to work for this company. I recommend a friend to come work for dish. Would I today...HELL NO .
About 4-5 years ago was when they started changing pretty drastically. But it made some sense. They wanted to survive and make it in the bad economy .
They started by taking away the summer picnic and the nice end of the year party.
They changed our incentive program around many times untill they found a way that would benefit them the most and make it hard on the tech.
They changed the "incentive" program from an incentive and a goal to mandatory and you BETTER get perfect scores at all cost!
Btw that survey call you get after we come out to help you out... If we don't average a 9.6 on the results. We know we are going to get bitched at and asked what went wrong...
It is now a game to convince people to just push all zeros(0 is a 10) .
So in no way is it a true survey.
Oh ya the new thing is sells. On top of all the metrics we must hit now we have to sell some Bullsh!t screen cleaner.
After every job we have to call a manager and tell them the way we connected the rec to bb or phone and if we sold anything or not .
The company wants us the bring the screen clean in with us and show it off first during the meet and greet...
If you are having problems with your system do you really want someone pushing a product on you?
It's just wrong.
I don't really get bothered by the overtime or the long days because I know I just need to put in my 4 days to get my 3 days off.
What it comes down to is the constant pressure that they put on us. Raising the metric levels , the work load for the day... Getting to 3 jobs before 12 can be very stress full. I hate being late to the 3 am.
It's just a brutal battle between the employees and the company . They will work you hard! And still think of ways to use you even more.
After 7 years I still enjoy installing dish and meeting some cool customer. I can still take pride in my work and do a solid badass install.
The micro managing company is just making it hard.
If I can find a new job ill be gone!
The sad thing is, just about all the techs feel that way.
The company has putinchal to be a great place to work. They don't care though.
You are just a number to them and that's the way it is.
Thanks to vegassatellite for posting that info, I have a little more respect for the survey now. It's a nice feeling to realize that Dish Network is objectively horrible to everyone, and it's not just a handful of disgruntled workers.
Unhappy people often have a harder time finding a new job than happy people. Go figure.
I bet if you were to poll more of the Dish employees the score would have been lower. Having worked for Dish, I don't understand how any person that has never wored for the company can defend it. As you have no clue how bad it is.
Liquidforce88 said:
+1
I was a tech for almost 7 years and I always said "Best job I've ever had, Worst company I've ever worked for." But it finally reached a point where the corporate foolishness just became too much and I took another job. It's been such a relief not dealing with the stupidity of Dish corporate anymore.
You can accept the terms if you like. You can excuse the micro management and the seemingly capricious rule changes regarding service and installations.
The fact is, Dish has dumped much of the responsibility of customers and the performance of the very equipment Dish sells upon the shoulders of the technicians.
That is unjust and you know it.
You are one of the few who have bought the company line. The one that says "everything here is fine and dandy. THose who criticize are just naysayers and complainers"..
You have your opinion. Others have theirs. You have no right to be perturbed.
Yes. THose businesses are open because they must. Or they open to provide an essential service.
However, this is tv. TV Is neither essential nor is it a need.
Try getting the local cable company out on a federal holiday. And if those people do work, they are being duly compensated for it. Dish employees and their contractors are to my knowledge are given nothing extra as compensation for being away from their families on these type holidays.
I can think of cases where holiday work is awesome. My old man used to make a week's pay in one shift working on compressors in auto plants on Christmas Eve/Morning because that's the only time the lines were shut down. It sucked to see him not there on Christmas eve and it was weird having Christmas morning with a pipe-fitter sitting by the tree in his work clothes, but man did he have a big ole smile on his face later that day when he tallied up that overtime (triple time)! Basically paid for Christmas by working that night.
If the overtime is good and you have the choice, that's one thing.
If the overtime is good and you have the choice, that's one thing.
piranesi said:
That's what your not understanding. YOU DO NOT GET HOLIDAY PAY OR ANY ADDITIONAL COMPENSATION WHATSOEVER. If Christmas falls on a Tuesday you get paid like its any other Tuesday. And I know for a fact that is not the norm with most service jobs. A good friend of mine is a line technician with AT&T and he gets paid double time and a half when he works holidays. And its volunteer basis only. And once again why are people who don't work for Dish and probably couldn't even make it through the first ninety days the only ones defending the company at all? Besides the reviews at glass door just look at the outpouring of overwhelming dissatisfaction from the techs on this forum. Not one tech on this site or that I work with would disagree with the findings on that survey whatsoever.
I actually thought someone upthread mentioned getting overtime for holidays. But if not, man, that sucks. Is Direct any different? If so, then it would be worth making that difference known in a forum like this where a lot of people end up looking to decide which company to buy from. There are people who would choose another company based on policies like that, if they knew about them.
So is this an industry thing or a Dish thing?
